New Delhi, Sep 13 - No private planes for official trips abroad and no-no to meetings in five-star hotels. A competitive austerity drive in the government has kicked in, with External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna deciding to forgo private jets and travel abroad economy class in a commercial flight.

Krishna will go to Turkmenistan, the gas-rich Central Asian country, and Belarus Tuesday on a commercial flight and will only take along three officials with him, official sources said.

The minister is normally accompanied by at least half a dozen officials on his trips abroad in an Air Force Embraer jet. Since the Embraer can't fly non-stop for more than four hours, the minister takes commercial flights and travels business class when he goes to far-off places like Australia and Brazil.

But in the aftermath of criticism Krishna and his deputy Shashi Tharoor drew following disclosures that they were staying in five-star hotels for over three months in the capital, austerity has become the reigning mantra.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who announced a slew of austerity measures in view of the drought and recession, led by example by flying economy class aboard a low-cost carrier to Kolkata on Saturday.